Marriage and Divorce Statistics in Maryland

Published on
February 7, 2022
Written by
Angel Murphy
Category
Divorce

Marriage continues to be a foundational institution in American society, something which shapes and influences countless aspects of our lives. There is no reason to suspect that marriage will cease to be a powerful force in the foreseeable future. However, there can be little doubt regarding the fact that marriage appears to be on the decline in several respects. As the statistics show, marriage rates are decreasing in most locations throughout the country, including the State of Maryland. Conversely, divorce is on the rise. There may be reasons to assume that these trends will continue; however, there simply isn’t evidence to suggest that marriage is headed for oblivion. In this post, we’re going to go deeper into this topic by looking at the hard numbers on both marriage and divorce in Maryland. This can give us a more concrete sense of what’s happening.

Statistics on Marriage

Since 1990, the trend is that marriage rates in the State of Maryland have been going down. The decrease has not been steady, however. There have been several dips and rebounds along the way to where the numbers stand today. But the overall trend is certainly a downward motion. For instance, back in 1990, the marriage rate in Maryland was 9.7 per 1,000 residents. Fast forward to 2005, the rate fell to just 6.9. The rate continued to fall steadily after 2005 until it hit a low of 5.6 in 2012. Then, things picked up, and by 2017 the rate had climbed gently to 6.3. As of 2019, the marriage rate was back down to 5.6. If we examine the numbers in greater detail, the result would simply be a more detailed picture of the same thing. The motion can be described as going in an uneven downward direction, but certainly downward.

Statistics on Divorce

The statistics on divorce in Maryland are a bit more complex. If we look broadly from 1990 to 2019, we can see that there is a decline in the divorce rate. This may be surprising to many readers. The full picture during this time reveals a very uneven and irregular pattern characterized by lots of ups and downs. In 1990, the divorce rate was 3.4 per 1,000 residents, but in 2002 the rate was also 3.4. During this 12 year period, however, there was quite a bit of motion, both upward and downward. If we fast forward from 2002 to 2019, we see a divorce rate of 2.7. So, the divorce rate dropped in absolute terms between these two dates. However, the change was complex, and there were several years in which the rate saw a slight increase.

Reasons Behind the Statistics

What are we to make of these statistics? Clearly, the rate of marriage in Maryland is on the downward slope, but so is the divorce rate. Although the divorce rate has declined more subtly, the fact that the divorce rate has declined at all is noteworthy. One reason for these trends might be that people have become more selective in their choices. For instance, people today may be more careful about marrying and, consequently, are a bit less likely to divorce. However, greater caution also explains the lower marriage rate overall. Of course, there are likely to be many reasons behind these trends. But greater caution and selectivity are probably near the top.

Contact The Murphy Law Firm for More Information

If you’d like to learn more, please contact The Murphy Law Firm today by calling 240-493-9116.

Angel Murphy

Personable. Passionate. Persistent.

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